On Friday January 7, twelve people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine based in Paris, France, were killed in what is the most brutal attack on freedom of speech in the history of the French press, as described by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Two masked gunmen raided the premises, threatening a building employee and her daughter to obtain the entrance code to the magazine’s office. Shortly thereafter, they opened fire, killing eight journalists including Charlie Hebdo and editor Stéphane Charbonnier, as well as a maintenance worker and two police officers. Eleven more were wounded. On their way out, one of the gunmen was heard calling, “We avenged the Prophet Muhammad! We killed Charlie Hebdo!”
This is yet another peg in what has been a long line of extremist-linked terrorist attacks over the past few months. The two gunmen (brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi) claimed to be tied to the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda based in Yemen. Related violence would follow at a Kosher Market in east Paris, where another extremist, Amedy Coulibaly, held several people hostage in an attempt to get police to free the Kouachis.
Charlie Hebdo had frequently targeted Islamic extremism in their publications, including one cartoon in which the leader of the IS was shown smoking a cigar and wishing readers a happy new year. It is assumed that this was the motivation of this particular attack, though it is difficult to deny that the fundamental freedom of speech was also (albeit indirectly) a target.
Through the late afternoon and evening following the shooting, Parisians poured into Place de la République, about 1 km away from the site of the shooting, in an act to stand up to terrorism and defend freedom of speech. Vigils followed worldwide all through the week. Several world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gathered at Place de la République for a special vigil. Prime Minister Stephen Harper did not attend, but was instead represented by a delegate.
These attacks provide yet another solemn reminder that terrorism and extremism has managed to challenge our fundamental rights and freedoms. It calls into question how well (or perhaps how poorly) we as a society work to defend and yes, understand, these rights and freedoms… which is far too well-demonstrated in the events following the attacks.
Over 50 anti-Islam incidents were reported to Parisian authorities through the aftermath, highlighting the struggle to understand the motivation behind these attacks. Though the terrorists cite the Prophet Muhammad and other religious symbols of Islam as their motivation, Islam is in fact a religion based on the same concepts as any other—love, freedom, treating others as one would like to be treated, etc, etc, etc. These anti-Islam acts of violence are a form of terrorism in themselves, grossly out of place and wholly inappropriate.
If we continue to react this way, how will there be an end to terrorism? These reactions add fuel to the fire. Perhaps some of the attacks would have happened anyway. Maybe. Probably. But in the future? One thing I can say for sure is that hate and violence are not the answer. Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité: These were the words that followed the end of the French Revolution in the late 1700s. Let’s not let them be forgotten three centuries later.
Facts and information from cbc.ca and the National Post.
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